


the light and the obstacle that casts it

by Red_Cheshire



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Dark Magic, Force-Sensitive Padmé Amidala, Implied/Referenced Mind Control, Kidnapping, Mind Control, No beta we die like illiterates, Sith Magic & Rituals (Star Wars), Sith Padmé Amidala, kind of, she's a darksider but she's not a Sith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27201706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Cheshire/pseuds/Red_Cheshire
Summary: When Obi-Wan had time to think after first meeting Queen Amidala and her handmaidens he had been struck by their similarities. He had dismissed it as irrelevant, but perhaps he should have given the matter more consideration.
Comments: 24
Kudos: 89
Collections: Spooky Wars Week





	the light and the obstacle that casts it

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Spooky Week Prompts: "Dark Side Magic" and "Hidden Monsters".
> 
> Give me a yell if you think I'm missing any tags.

When Obi-Wan had first met the child-Queen of Naboo and her handmaidens he had been struck by the similarities between them. While he had known the bodyguards of Naboo’s monarchs were often chosen for their resemblance to their ruler he was surprised by how they were almost identical. Were it not for their numbers and age Obi-Wan could have easily mistaken the girls for sisters. 

There was more to it than that, however, even as he dismissed it. The way their expressions and the small gestures in their body language matched too much to have been trained into habit. The closeness of their Force signatures, as alike as twins – as were their voices. 

Despite the handful of years that had passed since the illicit invasion of Naboo Obi-Wan could tell with certainty that the bare faced young woman before him was Queen Amidala herself. Though their current circumstances made it all the stranger, which was not changed in the slightest by the scent of flowers and decanter of blossom wine sitting on the other side of the rather charming room. 

“I had not expected our next encounter under such duress, your Majesty.” Bound in the containment field, Force-muting cuffs locked on his wrists, and stripped of his robes by the Mandalorian mercenary who had captured him on a mission on the other side of the Galaxy, Obi-Wan couldn’t help the sharp edge of his tone. 

Padme, _Amidala_ , smiled warmly at that. It was far more honest than he’d expected, though her eyes were calculating. “I would hope not, Messere Kenobi. It would hardly do to have let slip our intentions, especially in such sensitive circumstances.” 

“You’ve planned to have me kidnapped for this long?” He could barely contain his confusion at the admission and respectful honorific. On Naboo Obi-Wan had been only a senior Padawan barely ready to take to Trials. Before his Master fell in battle against the mysterious Sith. Before he slew the Zabrak and was elevated to Knighthood for it. “Force, what could possibly have kept your attention for so long?” There should have been nothing to keep the attention of a planetary leader on a Jedi for so long, not even a grateful one. 

The Queen gave an artful shrug at his question. “You play a larger role in the fate of the Galaxy than you or the Jedi Council acknowledge. General, diplomat, bodyguard, knight, and _Sithslayer_ ,” the last word lingered in the air between them. Amidala stepped closer and traced an elegant finger over the strange set art supplies laid out beside him, before she continued. “You killed the Sith assassin for my planet and your Master, for the little boy you and I kept from your Order. 

“Yet despite the title bestowed to you the Jedi have done _nothing_ to investigate or impede the Line of Bane.” Amidala didn’t so much as twitch at Obi-Wan’s flicker of surprise her use of name, that it was something that Naboo Queen shouldn’t have been aware of, while the room seemed colder than a moment ago. “A Sith apprentice is slain by a Jedi Padawan and his mentor paraded Sith relics in full view as my own Shiraya cursed Senator for decades. His mentor who is only dead by my own action, with his Master no closer to being found.” 

His mind raced at the revelation. Her Senator, Sheev Palpatine, who had died suddenly not more than a year after his Queen’s failed plea to the Senate – where he had tried to encourage her to call a vote of no confidence. Obi-Wan had assumed the man was simply corrupt, something far too common politicians. “Your Majesty, there was no need to kidnap me. If you have as much information about the Sith as you suggest then the Council _will_ listen.” 

“It is far too late for such things Messere Kenobi, by decades if not centuries. As clones of an ancient sorceress, created by the Dark Lord themself with none the wiser, my sisters and I are examples of that. We have need of you to find the Sith Master before the Line of Bane destroys us all.” With a slender brush in hand, dipped in a gleaming black ink that hurt to look at, Amidala pressed the brush to his skin. 

Obi-Wan chocked on his own breath as the Queen dragged the brush in a slow, deliberate stroke, leaving an eerie symbol over his heart before she dipped it back in the tainted ink and started another. 

It _burned_ like a viscous acid. The caustic darkness dug at his mind so unlike the temptation that beckoned all Jedi in their worst moments. It clawed and bit into Obi-Wan like a wild animal and an arctic storm – a chill fury that he remembered from when Master Jinn had gambled their freedom – and left threads of something warm and _alive_ in its wake. 

With each stroke of the sorceress’ brush the darkness clung tighter, burrowed deeper. 

“You are an asset to the Jedi, but the Circle of Twilight will gain far more from your service. I will be glad to call you brother once the ritual is complete.” Amidala held his chin between forefinger and thumb, holding his head in place despite his writhing to swipe the brush down his lip, almost a mockery of her own ceremonial makeup. “Your will shall be bound to mine, until my ways become your own. To be endarkened is not the same as to be Sith or to Fall. You will learn this through our bond and the path of Twilight’s balance will become yours.” 

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone who would probably ask: Anakin was fostered by Eirtae's adoptive family while they sponsored Shmi's citizenship because none of the clone-sisters were willing to let the supernova of a child go to the Jedi or be at risk of being snatched up by the Sith. He's being trained in their ways and Force sorcery, while Shmi has her own small business which is doing quite well.


End file.
